Cryptocurrencies are primarily considered speculative investments and for a good reason.
Volatility is the name of the game with cryptocurrencies. Traders thrive on volatility because it means big price swings and big profits. However, investors prefer less volatility since it’s easier to hold onto your money if you don’t need to worry about massive price swings.
Nevertheless, some cheap cryptocurrencies out there might be worth taking a chance on. Some have an added bonus in that they offer utility beyond being an investment vehicle. Whether you’re looking to invest or use these currencies for something else, here are 10 cheap cryptocurrencies to consider buying. Some are even under $ 1.
Cheap way to buy cryptocurrency
The easiest cheap way to buy cryptocurrency is through one of the many exchanges on the market. You can find them online or via a mobile app.
Once you’ve created an account, it’s usually simple to add funds and begin trading. Many exchanges allow you to purchase cryptocurrency with a credit or debit card.
The downside of using exchanges is that they may charge trading fees and other charges. Some even require identity verification before they allow you to trade.
10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies to Buy:
First Cheap Crypto to buy: ARK
Rank: 337
Price: $ 0.85
Market cap: $ 115,111,283
Ark is a delegated proof of stake crypto that offers a platform for smart contracts. Unlike Ethereum, Ark uses what it calls “ SmartBridges ” to make the connection between separate blockchains.
This system makes Ark more user-friendly than Ethereum and other crypto platforms. It allows users to create custom blockchains without needing to build them from the ground up. And it makes creating blockchain applications much easier.
Ark also uses a voting system for its delegate nodes. The top 51 nodes by vote receive a reward from each new block. This means that Ark has an incentive program for people to run a node, which helps keep its network secure.
Second Cheap Crypto to buy: Cardano
Rank: 9
Price: $ 0.85
Market cap: $ 28,589,878,191
Cardano is a smart contract blockchain like Ethereum. It is also the first blockchain project developed from a scientific philosophy. It’s also developing a layer for smart contracts similar to Ethereum but promises to be more secure through advanced features such as Plutus , Marlowe , and IELE .
The goal of Cardano is to create a platform that can handle financial applications that require high levels of security. The Cardano blockchain consists of two layers. The first layer runs the cryptocurrency called ADA, and the second layer runs smart contracts similar to Ethereum.
Cardano might be able to solve some of the biggest problems facing cryptocurrencies everywhere, including interoperability and scalability. Its token, ADA, can be used to send and receive digital funds. This digital cash represents the future of money, making possible fast, direct transfers that are guaranteed to be secure through cryptography.
With a market cap of $ 28,589,878,191, Cardano is currently ranked as the ninth cryptocurrency in the world.
Third Cheap Crypto to buy: Waves
Rank: 43
Price: $ 28.23
Market cap: $ 3,019,669,708
Waves is a blockchain project that concentrates on customizing blockchain technology to make it more accessible for businesses. It allows companies to issue their own tokens, including fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies, to internally raise funds or transfer value.
The Waves token (WAVES) is used to pay fees and reward users who run a full node. It also powers the Waves decentralized exchange (DEX), which lets people trade assets issued on the Waves blockchain.
The Waves DEX is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges among traders because it offers high liquidity and fast transactions. The platform also offers low fees and a unique feature to trade anonymously with no KYC data required.
So far, more than $ 4 billion in assets have been issued on the Waves blockchain, including fiat currencies such as the Russian ruble, Euro, and Turkish lira.
Waves’ competitors include Ethereum and NEM – both of which are more popular than Waves and more difficult for newbies to use.
Fourth Cheap Crypto to buy: NEM
Rank: 84
Price: $ 0.09
Market cap: $ 883,701,322
NEM is a relatively new cryptocurrency that is still in its early stages. It was launched in 2015, and it just recently started gaining some traction in the marketplace. This cryptocurrency has a unique consensus algorithm called Proof of Importance (POI), differentiating it from other cryptocurrencies.
This algorithm is used by NEM to determine who will receive the next block reward. It also prevents network spamming by requiring a certain amount of XEM as a transaction fee to prevent spammers from flooding the network with useless transactions.
Fifth Cheap Crypto to buy: Steem (STEEM)
Rank: 548
Price: $ 4.18
Market cap: $ 45,110,740
Steem is a blockchain-based social media network where users can earn rewards by contributing quality content and rating content published by others. Its native smart contract-powered currency, Steem Dollars (SBD), can be traded for Bitcoin on major exchanges such as Bittrex and Poloniex.
Steem Power (SP) measures how much you have invested in the Steemit platform. The more SP you have, the more voting power you have. Rising prices tend to lead to rises in SP, as it becomes more valuable over time. It can also be powered down into STEEM if you wish to withdraw your investment from the platform.
Sixth Cheap Crypto to buy: Stratis
Rank: 310
Price: $ 0.94
Market cap: $ 127,607,081
Stratis, a UK-based company, aims to make blockchain technology accessible for businesses. Stratis is developing a blockchain platform that allows firms in the financial services industry to build applications on top of it.
The crypto is not available for mining, but it still has a strong community and development team behind it. This blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform enables corporations to create their own custom private or public sidechains for their business needs.
Stratis started out as a simple Bitcoin clone on the .NET framework. But since then, it has differentiated itself and added more features to its platform.
Seventh Cheap Crypto to buy: Siacoin
Rank: 129
Price: $ 0.0089
Market cap: $ 448,255,895
Siacoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer network for data storage powered by blockchain technology. It connects people with spare storage capacity with those who need it in a market directly controlled by its customers. Because the service is highly encrypted and completely decentralized, it removes the risk of storing data online through third parties like Dropbox or Amazon Web Services.
Siacoin operates based on smart contracts and uses blockchain technology for all its operations. As such, it does not have any central authority controlling it. Its price and distribution are determined by market forces alone. The platform offers a privacy-oriented cloud storage service that enables clients to rent out their unused hard drive space at competitive rates. The excess capacity offered by Siacoin allows users to store large amounts of data securely at relatively low fees.
Eight Cheap Crypto to buy: Ripple (XRP)
Rank: 6
Price: $ 0.79
Market cap: $ 38,038,634,924
Ripple is the sixth-largest crypto by market cap, and it is one of the most controversial. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which have no central authority, Ripple has a designated company to oversee its production and distribution.
That company – Ripple Labs – has sought to make XRP a stable, secure payment method for enterprises worldwide. It has attracted everyone from major banks to individual investors, promising that all transactions can be settled in four seconds.
Since 2017, XRP has risen by more than 3,000%, making it one of the year’s best investments. And with its growing list of corporate partners, it could be a solid bet for years to come.
Ninth Cheap Crypto to buy: Augur
Rank: 289
Price: $ 13.46
Market cap: $ 147,863,726
Augur is a decentralized prediction market and one of the top cryptocurrencies by market cap today. It allows Augur users to bet on the outcome of events and earn money if they correctly predict what will happen.
The idea for Augur emerged in 2014 when Ethereum was gaining traction. The currency’s creators wanted to combine this new blockchain technology with existing online gambling methods, but without the security risks that come with them.
In Augur’s first iteration, you could bet on real-life outcomes like sports games, but the platform quickly found its niche in predicting financial markets and world events.
For example, in 2018, a user guessed that President Donald Trump would be impeached before the end of his term. The user correctly predicted this outcome and won thousands of dollars.
Augur has had its fair share of controversy over its lifetime, partly due to its association with gambling. But it remains one of the top cryptocurrency projects out there today.
Tenth Cheap Crypto to buy: Golem
Rank: 127
Price: $ 0.46
Market cap: $ 461,333,258
The Golem project aims to create a decentralized marketplace for computing power, allowing anyone to share extra processing resources. The Golem token, GNT, is used to pay for the computing power provided by other users. Golem has earned a spot on our list of cheap cryptocurrencies due to its potential value in the future.
Golem’s whitepaper envisions a future where people can rent, sell, or buy unused computing power worldwide. This would allow users to perform tasks requiring huge processing power without paying for expensive supercomputers.
Some of the applications envisioned in the whitepaper include CGI rendering and scientific research. However, there are also some more trivial applications such as video transcoding and creating botnets for DDoS attacks.
If Golem can deliver on its vision, it could offer an alternative to existing cloud-based services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Users would no longer need to pay a company like AWS just so they can run their computations online; they could instead buy access to computing resources through Golem’s marketplace.
Conclusion
There are many cryptocurrencies out there, and for the most part, these coins have pretty distinctive features that make them stand out from the crowd. However, if you’re just getting started and don’t have much money to invest, it’s probably best to stick with these low-risk investments. After all, there’s no sense in losing money on your first foray into cryptocurrency investing.